Hostility For The Loss

Have you guys noticed a rise in the angry lately? Usually if there is someone yelling on the street I ignore it, it becomes white noise. But recently there has been a lot of unnecessary angry gestures, a lot of raised voices, a lot of rudeness that I haven’t been able to ignore.

A few days ago I was driving along, and a soccer mom who was waiting to turn left across from me totally flipped me off, with the angry shaky hand and the ugly angry face as a I drove past because it seemed like she was going to have to wait for another light. There was enough time left in the light for the guy behind me to also drive through. She may have been late, or having a bad morning, but woah! Really? We’re going to go there before noon?

I’ve heard people screaming on the phone, using language I would never expect from them, I’ve seen more angry drivers, more fingers in the air, more spiteful driving.

I also just heard on the radio that Americans’ (but I think I could argue all people on this) mood and productivity drastically changes after the 62 day mark without a vacation. So every 62 days or so, to have maximum happiness and productivity, we should be unplugging, de-suiting, and running off to somewhere not here. And I thought that was a lot. Especially compared to how much I (we all) realistically vacation. In the last year or so, every vacation I’ve taken has included work. Or if I’m not “working” I’m moving or running such and such errand. It’s all about the multi-task, the squeeze time in here, time in there.

In the mean time, the time before we all figure out how to take a minute away and breath, we’re apparently angrier, more likely to hate on our fellow exhausted humans, have higher blood pressure, feel guilty for not working more (me), but then procrastinate because our brain powers are all the way down to empty.

The Kamel Lauren household is up for a major lifestyle switch in a few weeks. (Teaser!) But I’m less concerned about that, and more concerned with how angry the world seems. And not just on a war-level, on a “I hate my fellow commuters, I hate my boss, I hate my customers, I hate you” kind of way. The hostility needs to simmer.

16 thoughts on “Hostility For The Loss”

YES. I have noticed the same thing. People come into my shop like, “you don’t have any fucking stickybuns left?!! RAAAAGGGEEE!” When before they’d be like, “Oh, well then, could I have a chocolate croissant instead?”
I don’t know why people are all so pissed but I was hypothesising that it is this January in June weather?

If that’s the case, then it’s just going to get worse because July is always complete shit. Hopefully we’ll get more sun soon! I think walks are underrated too. Especially if you work in an office. Taking a 15 min walk can work wonders!

YES, i think its the shitty weather!! Its bringing the bitchyness out in everybody! HURRY UP SUN! And YAY for lifestyle change!! I think i know what it is!! EEEE!!! Big second half of the year ahead, so exciting!!

Oh man, I totally feel the same way. The other day while I was running, someone in an SUV honked at me. I glanced over, knowing what to expect. To my surprise, though, instead of shouting “nice tits,” the guy gave me the middle finger! For no reason! All I could think was, I hope this is some jackass I went to high school with, because if it’s just a random stranger who took the time out of his day to make me feel bad, that’s ridiculous. UGH.

Yes! I stopped for a jaywalker because he was already in the middle of the road and he in turn began yelling and cursing at me. Are you kidding, I did the nice thing by not running you over while you illegally impeded traffic and you curse at me?! People are crazy!

I heard the 60+ days without a vacation statistic too, and totally agree. I went for a long while without a day off, plus with crazy stuff going on in my life, and I honestly thought I was going insane. I took a long weekend just now, and I already feel SO much more grounded. I think just getting away for a day or two and forgetting reality helps.

Thankfully, I haven’t noticed too much anger lately. And that includes me taking a road trip… usually I see a lot of road rage. Hell usually I HAVE a lot of road rage. But I just haven’t seen it. In fact, I’ve been experiencing a lot of southern hospitality lately, which is rare but welcomed.

I think the weather really might have something to do with it. Here in Boston, before we finally got some decent summer temperatures, we had a pretty miserable (or non-existent) spring, and people were angry! Especially drivers. But now that it’s all nice and warm and sunny (except for that little tornado we had yesterday in MA), people actually seem to be nicer to each other.

Yes! I’ve noticed this in others and in myself. Just yesterday, the thought that kept going in a loop in my head was “I am so fed up with incompetence,” which, yeah, I was dealing with some pretty stupid people, but it was all I could focus on. And the fact that it’s all I can focus on makes me more frustrated, so…

YES. It’s not just me. Or NYC. Scott just got flipped off yesterday waiting at a red by some dude in a truck who almost hit him because he cut a corner too close.

Aaand we’re both tackling anger and commuting today! I ranted, hopefully humorously, on the blog about my issues with the train today. Anger is alive and well on public transit—and I’m totes contributing to it. Less in actions though, and more in bad energy and words. Here’s to a better June. 🙂

i completely, 100% agree. there is so much anger in people these days and it seems to be contagious. there also seems to be much more rudeness and disrespect in general.

i feel like our culture is deteriorating some days to a tragic point. manners, common sense and civility seem to be taking a back seat to people’s general sense of entitlement. working in a “service” industry in which i deal with a wide variety of people on a regular basis i can also tell you that these trends defy all socioeconomic boundaries. its saddening…what can we do??

Wow – perfect timing! Just a few minutes ago I got flipped off while driving on the freeway driver for the very first time. And not even by the other driver! By his passenger!!! People need to chill! (And I live in LA, so you can’t blame the weather).

I honestly think part of it is that we are plugged in 24/7 with our mobile phones always on and connected to text, facebook, twitter and what ever else there is an app for. People had down time between work and home if they commuted. If you went out, you would get your messages from your voicemail or answering machine when you got home. Sometimes I long for pre-mobile phone days.